Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My LifeHarper Collins, 2009 M03 17 - 288 pages James Blake's life was getting better every day. A rising tennis star and People magazine's Sexiest Male Athlete of 2002, he was leading a charmed life and loving every minute of it. But all that ended in May 2004, when Blake fractured his neck in an on-court freak accident. As he recovered, his father—who had been the inspiration for his tennis career—lost his battle with stomach cancer. Shortly after his father's death, Blake was dealt a third blow when he contracted zoster, a rare virus that paralyzed half of his face and threatened to end his already jeopardized career. In Breaking Back, Blake provides a remarkable account of how he came back from this terrible heartbreak and self-doubt to become one of the top tennis players in the world. A story of strength, passion, courage, and the unbreakable bonds between a father and son, Breaking Back is a celebration of one extraordinary athlete's indomitable spirit and his inspiring ability to find hope in the bleakest of times. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 7
... world according to the computer rankings, and by the end of 2002, I had worked my way up to number twentyeight. It was more than I had ever imagined for myself, and for the first time, I started to believe that I actually 12 BREAKING BACK.
... ranking to an all-time high, by the end of the 2003 season, it was sinking like a stone. It had been a difficult year, one in which I'd lost a number of matches I felt I could, and should, have won, often due more to my mental ...
... ranked number six in the world. The atmosphere was crackling; before he retired, nothing electrified a stadium full of American tennis fans in August like the sight of Andre Agassi plying his trade. I could feel the anticipation ...
... rankings, number twenty-four to my twenty-five. In other words, on paper, I was just as likely to win the match as he was. What made that match even more frustrating was that I had won the first set, but after he won the 18 BREAKING BACK.
... ranked well below me that in hindsight I didn't take seriously enough. One of the most suicidal things you can do in tennis is to believe your ranking. You don't win matches because you're number whatever; you get to your number ...
Contents
1 | |
7 | |
It Could Be Worse | 35 |
Requiem for a Superman | 63 |
Five Minutes of Hitting | 115 |
Plan B | 147 |
If You Can Win One Set | 175 |
You Can Win Two 175 7 Fire It Up One Time Bam 203 8 Getting Better 241 Epilogue 257 Glossary | 265 |